4 Reasons Why Your Insurance Claim Is Taking Forever
Personal Auto | Individuals & Families | Business Insurance | Home Insurance | Business Auto
Let’s be real - the only thing more annoying than having to file an insurance claim, is waiting for it to be paid out!
If you’ve recently filed a claim on one of your insurance policies, you may be frustrated by how long the process is taking. And unfortunately, you aren’t alone!
When it comes to dealing with claims, our team at Berry Insurance is experienced in working with the carriers who process them. In recent years, our team has witnessed the growing trend of claims taking longer to finalize, and all parties involved growing more annoyed because of it.
While your agent won’t always be able to speed the process, we can help to break down the barriers and discuss what exactly is causing claims to take forever - including the big offenders: staffing issues, increased number of claims, supply shortages, and just plain bad communication.
Table of contents:
1. Staffing issues
The biggest hindrance our team has noticed when it comes to delays on insurance claims comes from understaffed insurance carriers.
Put frankly, the small staff present at multiple insurance carriers are overwhelmed with the number of claims they’re dealing with. This forces more and more claims to be delayed as a result. While insurance carriers are trying to bring in more staff to handle this issue, even if they are successful in filling the roles, it takes time to train them - thus slowing down the process even further.
And with the increased amount of natural disasters raising the number of claims being filed for home and auto issues across the board, the small staff present are swamped.
While we don’t say this as an excuse for the claims process being slow, it is one possible explanation for these difficulties - one that may warrant some additional patience as your carrier’s team gets through their backlog.
2. Increased number of claims
In addition to shortages in staffing, insurance companies have also become swamped with an increased number of claims.
This stems from the large amount of natural disasters and freak weather incidents affecting large areas of the country. Everything from wildfires, hurricanes, or even heavy snow storms can increase the number of claims for homes, cars, and businesses - thus adding to the workload of the already understaffed carriers.
3. Supply shortages
A lot of times the delays during the claims process can come from the lack of availability of certain parts necessary for repairs after a claim.
In 2025, our team has noticed several issues stemming from body shops being backed up, parts being backordered, materials being harder to acquire, and even less contractors being available for claims-related repairs - whether they be for home or auto.
In fact, according to our friends at Plymouth Rock Assurance, in recent years 98% of auto repair shops have been experiencing delays due to increased demand for parts - which also results in higher prices. Similarly, the cost of lumber and other construction materials are up over 50%, causing repair costs to soar.
With back-ups and delays on certain parts, the entire claims process can wind up being drawn out longer than you’d want as every party is waiting for the next step to be completed.
4. Poor communication
On top of everything we already covered, sometimes the reason a claim is being delayed simply comes down to bad communication amongst all parties involved.
Yes, even in the digital age where responses can be instantaneous, there are oftentimes issues with one party getting stalled if another is not responding to an email or task that must be completed.
This can involve delays in communication between insurance adjusters and contractors for repairs, or appraisals not being sent to adjusters in a timely manner.
Our team at Berry Insurance has also noticed that occasionally the carrier will be waiting on the other party involved in the claim to respond, which can cause significant delays processing the claim as the liability investigation can not be completed without their response.
And while we’re not trying to point fingers, sometimes the problem can come down to you, the client. Well, maybe not specifically YOU, but oftentimes the entire process can screech to a halt if the client is not promptly responding to messages regarding their claim. So this makes it important to ensure that the insurance adjuster has the correct point of contact for you, and that you are quickly replying when they reach out.
Dealing with the long claims process
While the reasons we outlined won’t necessarily aid you in speeding up the process, you now have a better understanding of what goes into insurance claims and why yours may currently be backed up.
Interested in pulling back the curtain more on what exactly you can expect when filing an insurance claim? Then you’re in the right place!
Be sure to check out our articles on what the timeline looks like for car insurance claims as well as what you can expect when filing a home insurance claim.
And if you’re a business owner who recently suffered a loss, check out this guide: What to Expect During a Business Insurance Claim.